Man charged with animal cruelty for killing Chihuahua in Richland neighbor’s yard

A Richland man is charged with killing his neighbor’s Chihuahua-mix with a metal pipe after he went into the neighbor’s yard and the dog nipped him.

Richland police said Zachary T. Compson, 32, was bit when he went into the yard on Hunt Avenue to return some wrongly delivered mail June 28.

His 63-year-old neighbor keeps three dogs in her backyard, and one was a Chihuahua-mix named Copper that stood about a foot tall and weighed about 15 pounds, court documents said. The other dogs are about the same size.

The neighbor told police her dogs were barking at Compson when he was in her yard. She didn’t know why he was there.

He said he left the yard after the dog attacked him. He came back shortly after with a metal pipe and hit Copper twice, then returned home.

A Richland officer said the dog was struggling to breathe when he arrived and it was pronounced dead at a veterinarian’s office.

Compson said the dog bit him on the right shin. He showed the officer a “small red mark” that was bleeding slightly.

Officer Blake Fabbri wrote that the injury seemed “very minor.”

Benton County prosecutors charged Compson with first-degree animal cruelty. He’s being held in the Benton County jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 4:38 PM.